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iTweb: There's Something Fishy/Fantastic About Freeware

There's Something Fishy About Freeware

"While many users try to measure the operating system in medium
to large organisations purely on the cost per desktop by product,
owning a desktop environment has costs that far outweigh that of
the associated licensing.

"Installation is one of the first issues businesses stumble
across. After organisations find their free-to-buy software they
need somebody to install it. While it's not at all difficult to
find someone who can put Microsoft's Windows 2000 on a server for
the organisation, it can be a little more difficult to have someone
to put Red Hat version 7.2 on the same device.

"And that's where the true cost of an operating system begins to
creep in..."

There's Something Fantastic About Freeware

"Mr Loubser seems to have rehashed a survey that was conducted
at the end of last year by the IDC group. The study was a Microsoft
sponsored study. We all know how business works--those paying the
bills get the most say. Nobody owns Linux, so nobody has to pay
anyone to praise it.

"Other independent studies have shown that the total cost of
ownership with Linux is reduced by the fact that a skilled
administrator for linux on average could handle 44 machines in his
daily workload. His Microsoft counterpart only managed to look
after 10 machines..."